National Hot Mulled Cider Day Date in the current year: September 30, 2024

Hot mulled cider is a delicious beverage that will make crisp September afternoons march warmer. It is a popular fall and winter drink often associated with the end of the year holidays such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve. It is made with apple cider, spices, and sometimes fruit such as apples or oranges by heating cider and other ingredients to a temperature just below boiling.

Modern hot mulled cider is believed to derive from an old pagan tradition of wassailing that was common in medieval England. It was a drinking ritual and salutation that involved going door-to-door (house-visiting wassail) or visiting apple orchards (orchard-visiting wassail).

The house-visiting wassail was a popular Yuletide custom that involved going door-to-door, singing songs, and offering a drink of hot mulled ale, cider, or wine in exchange for gifts. The orchard-visiting wassail was the ritual of singing and drinking to awaken the apple trees and ensure a good harvest in autumn. It was common in the cider-producing regions in western England.

The word “wassail” was originally a toast meaning “be fortunate” or “be in good health”. Over time, it came to denote the drink used in wassailing, especially the spiced ale or cider used in Christmas Eve and Twelfth Night celebrations. The earliest versions of wassail were made with warmed mead and roasted crab apples. Later, the beverage evolved into hot mulled cider with sugar and spices (cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg).

For most North Americans, hot mulled cider is a non-alcoholic beverage because in the United States and Canada, the expression “apple cider” refers to unfiltered, unsweetened apple juice, called cloudy apple juice elsewhere. However, the beverage can also be made with hard cider, called simply cider outside of North America. The third version of the drink is spiked hot mulled cider, made with non-alcoholic cider and some sort of liquor such as rum, bourbon, brandy, calvados, etc.

The origins of National Hot Mulled Cider Day are unclear, but there is no doubt that this delicious drink deserves to be honored. Celebrate this amazing holiday by making some hot mulled cider and enjoying it with friends. Here is a simple hot mulled spice recipe for you to try.

Pour a gallon of apple cider into a large pot. Add 3 cinnamon sticks. Tie 1 tbsp whole cloves and 1 tbsp whole allspice into a piece of cheesecloth (you can skip this step, but it will make things much easier). Slice an orange into circles. Add the cheesecloth with spices and half of the sliced orange into the cider.

Heat the cider on the stove or in a slow cooker until it just starts to boil. Lower the heat to the minimum and let simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Ladle the hot mulled cider into mugs and garnish with the remaining orange slices. If you decide to make the alcoholic version of the drink using hard cider, do not let the cider boil! Heat it to just below the boiling point.